1)

(a)When the Gemara says that thoughts of sin are worse than the sin itself - it means that immoral thoughts weaken a person more than the immoral act itself (see also Agados Maharsha).

(b)The Siman for this - is the smell of roasting meat, which leaves a person with a strong desire to eat some (from the Siman one might explain the statement to mean that immoral thoughts cause a person to sin again, more than the actual act itself).

2)

(a)The end of summer is hotter than the summer itself - due to the heat that accumulated throughout the summer months.

(b)The Siman for that is an oven that was heated a number of times, which can then be easily re-heated - even using very small twigs.

(c)A fever is worse in winter than in summer - because it needs more heat to heat up the body - just like a cold oven, which requires more wood to heat it than a warm one.

(d)The Siman that bears out the theory that it is easier to learn something afresh than it is to re-learn it after having forgotten it - is cement that is ground into particles, which is far more difficult to mix than fresh clay.

3)

(a)Rebbi learn that the sun's early morning rays do not go straight up, from the Pasuk in Tehilim "Lamenatze'ach al Ayeles ha'Shachar ... " - comparing the early morning sun to the horns of a gazelle, whose antlers split up into many branches.

(b)Esther said the above chapter (22) of Tehilim - after the Shechinah left her (as she walked passed the house of idolatry on her way to King Achashverosh to plead for her people).

(c)She compared herself to a deer, because she was particularly beloved by Achashverosh, like a female gazelle is beloved by its mate, due to the fact that its womb is extremely narrow.

4)

(a)According to Rav Asi, Esther compared herself to the morning - because, just as the morning heralds the end of night, so too, did the Yom-Tov that she initiated (Purim) herald the end of the miracles (it was the last Yom-Tov).

(b)She deliberately ignored the miracle of Chanukah, which came later - because Chanukah is not recorded as a book in Tanach, whereas Purim is.

(c)This explanation is not acceptable - according to those who maintain that Megilas Esther is not Metamei the hands (like the other Sefarim of Tanach), because it is not considered a Sefer.

(d)Rebbi Elazar therefore establishes Esther's comparison like Rebbi Binyamin bar Yefes in the name of Rebbi Elazar - who said that the Tefilos of Tzadikim are compared to a gazelle (according to this explanation 'Shachar' is a Lashon of Tefilah) - inasmuch as, the more they Daven, the more their prayers are accepted, like the antlers of a gazelle, which split into more and more branches, as it grows older.

5)

(a)The problem with establishing our Mishnah (which describes the mistake that the Kohanim made one morning when the moon began to shine just before dawn-break) on Yom Kipur - is that the moon does not rise from the east so late in the month (only at the beginning).

(b)The problem with establishing it on other days of the year lies in the continuation of the Mishnah - 'Horidu Kohen Gadol l'Beis ha'Tevilah'. If the Mishnah is not referring to Yom Kipur, then why specifically the Kohen Gadol?

(c)We finally establish the Reisha of the Mishnah - during the rest of the year. The Tana however, then switches to Yom Kipur, and informs us that, when the Kohen said Barkai on Yom Kipur, they took the Kohen Gadol down to the Mikvah.

(d)If a Kohen killed a bird (by means of Melikah) or made Kemitzah on a Minchah - when it was still night, the bird and the Minchah (like an animal that was Shechted by night) must be burned - because both Melikah and Kemitzah are the equivalent of the Shechitah of an animal Korban (which is Pasul by night).

6)

(a)If a Kemitzah was performed by night, they cannot simply return the Kometz that the Kohen took to the flour from which it was taken, to perform the Kemitzah again in the day - because a Kli Shares renders what is placed into it (even before its time), Kodesh. Consequently, the remaining flour becomes Shirayim, and is Pasul like the Kometz.

(b)When the Tana of the Beraisa said that flour-offerings and the like, that are brought by day, become sanctified in a Kli Shares by day, implying, but not be night - he meant that it does not become sanctified to be brought; it does however, become sanctified to become Pasul.

(c)If a Minchas Nesachim is placed into a Kli Shares by night - it will become sanctified, since a Minchas Nesachim is Kasher to be brought by night as well as by day, and whatever is Kasher to be brought both by day and by night, becomes sanctified to be brought by night as well as by day.

(d)The three ramifications of the statement 'Aval Kadosh Lipasel' - are: to become Pasul 1. if it was touched by a Tevul-Yom or a Mechusar Kipurim; 2. if it was Yotzei (taken outside its confines); 3. if it became Pasul b'Linah (it remained off the Mizbe'ach until the morning).

7)

(a)'If the Kohen arranged the Lechem ha'Panim and the bowls of frankincense on the Table on Sunday, and burned the frankincense on Shabbos, the loaves become Pasul'. Rashi rejects this text - because the Gemara concludes that bread that is placed on the table six days prematurely does not become Pasul - as we shall now see.

(b)In fact, on the following Shabbos, they bring other bowls of frankincense and place them on the Table besides the loaves, which are then treated like fresh Lechem ha'Panim.

8)

(a)What we said earlier regarding the Kometz that was taken prematurely and placed inside a Kli Shares (that it becomes sanctified to become Pasul) - only applies when it was placed inside the Kli Shares in the course of the previous night, but not before that. Consequently, the loaves, that were placed on the Table six days in advance, will not become Pasul.

(b)Initially, the Gemara requires the loaves to be removed before the following Shabbos for the loaves not to become Pasul - because otherwise, as soon as nightfall of Shabbos arrives, they will become Pasul.

(c)Rav Ashi however dispenses with the need to remove the loaves from the table before Shabbos - because, he explains, the loaves will not become Pasul when Friday night arrives. Why not? Because, seeing as they were not placed bi'Pesul - it is as if a monkey had placed them, and they cannot become Pasul).